4.10.08

hazelnut cinnamon chocolate biscotti

hazelnut cinnamon chocolate biscotti

wowzers. blogging on a saturday night.

damn, this nablowrimo has got me hardcore!!

even though i love brooklyn and all the relatively new things popping up over in red hook, i am embarrassed to confess that i had never heard of baked until i read about them on smitten kitchen last month.

hazelnuts

and now i can't escape them! i've been reading about them everywhere. and then peabody made their whoopie pies. and then i took a random visit to my local barnes & noble to find a microeconomics study book and i saw that matt and renato were scheduled to do a discussion, tasting, and book signing a couple days later.

it was fate.

so on thursday night i heard the story, ate the famous baked brownie, bought the book (full price, grrr), got it signed, and was off on my merry way dreaming about all the fun things i wanted to try.

get baked

with a bit of time to spare this afternoon, i decided i wanted to bake up some treats to share with my parents who are enjoying a weekend in the city. we were meeting them for dinner in just a short while so it needed to be something quick, easy, and portable. and a recipe that had all ingredients already in the pantry and fridge (which is more of a challenge for me than you think).

dough

the decision? hazelnut cinnamon chocolate biscotti. i had to halve the recipe because i only had a total of 3 eggs on hand, which was a bit of a pain because of the original 1/3 and 1/4 measurements. but i figured biscotti would be forgiving in the precision department.

the verdict? sorry baked, but i wasn't wild about these. don't get me wrong, they taste very good. the cinnamon is a nice surprise. but the whole nuts were just a little too whole. and i think there is too much chocolate. i know, i know! no such thing as too much chocolate. maybe i'm just a traditionalist? or maybe i just need to wait a night and dunk them in my tea tomorrow morning for a proper analysis? keep tuned!

biscotti

hazelnut cinnamon chocolate biscotti: makes 24
adapted from baked: new frontiers in baking (2008, p. 147)

1 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts, toasted and cooled
1 3/4 cup (10 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 large egg white

1. preheat oven to 350F. line baking sheet with parchment.

2. whisk together sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. in bowl of mixer with paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar mixture until color is uniform and mixture is thick. add vanilla and beat for 5 seconds. add flour in two batches and beat until just combined. scrape down bowl and mix for a few seconds more. add hazelnuts and chocolate chips and beat until just combined.

3. turn dough out on sheet and shape into log 16 inches long, 3 1/2 inches wide, and 3/4 inches thick. use offset spatula to smooth. bake for 20-25 minutes until firm, but not browned. let cool on pan for 10 minutes and lower oven to 325F.

4. while log is cooling, whisk egg white and 2 tb water together and brush egg wash on top of the log.

5. cut the log into 3/4 inch slices with serrated knife. note: the following method comes from martha stewart and is how i do all biscotti now. put wire rack on top of baking sheet. arrange slices, cut sides down, on rack. bake for 25 minutes (time is from original recipe). let cool and enjoy with coffee or tea!

biscotti

7 comments:

  1. Well they look great, anyway! I hadn't heard of baked until now, but I have to confess that I don't get down to Brooklyn too much. I live in East Harlem and for some reason the MTA confounds my plans every weekend by making like 5 train switches necessary (I'm exaggerating, kind of). Have you been to the shop yet?

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  2. Anonymous5/10/08 21:02

    the title of this post alone has got my mouth watering! not to mention those photos...they really do look great! YUM!

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  3. thanks for visiting andrea and megan!

    after all these years, there's still so many places i need to visit in this city.

    and yeah, i love the whole if you would like to go to X stop, please take the train five stops past and then take the downtown/uptown train back to where you wanted to go!!

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  4. I have never heard of baked, so I'll have to see the website. I don't live in NYC, alas.

    These look delicious! Too much chocolate? For shame! ;)

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  5. i used to work at baked, actually! red hook is hard to get to, the only downside of visiting.

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  6. groovygrrl: thanks for visiting! i know, too much chocolate is a complete oxymoronic statement to make. after trying them the second day i conclude it was the whole hazelnuts i didn't like. the chocolate was just fine, indeed ;-)

    steph: wow, would love to hear the stories! now that IKEA is down there, there are more bus routes and shuttles, but it's still a pain!

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  7. Anonymous7/10/08 07:39

    they look great! i'm sorry you didn't love them but it seems like they could easily be fixed [less chocolate, chopped nuts, etc].

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